Recently it was announced that the Dallas Cowboys and their hated rivals, the Washington Redskins, were being penalized for spending too much money during the 2010 season. Dallas is facing a $10 million reduction over the next couple season while the Redskins are facing a hefty $36 million hit.

Information has now come to light that the penalty that both teams are being hit with was part of the agreement that helped end the lockout. The details are pretty intricate, but the basics of it are as follows.

When the agreement was coming together the players were looking at a salary cap around $113 million, much less than the $120.6 million that it is. The numbers of the new agreement calculated the cap to be around $113-117 million, but if that was the case there would have been much more of a shake-up than we have already seen this summer.

Since more money is going to help out retired players the actual amount going to current players would have been less. That means that many teams would have had no other choice but to cut veteran players in order to get under the cap.

So to pacify the players, the league agreed to raise the cap to the $120.6 million mark it’s at, but they wanted something in return. The league wanted to hit the Cowboys and Redskins with a penalty for spending so much during the 2010 un-caped season. Faced with having to tell many players that they will either get cut or be forced to take less money, the NFLPA sacrificed Dallas and Washington.

Yes, you heard it right. They are getting punished for spending too much money in a season that there was no official or legal limit.

The league has defended these actions by saying that it warned teams not to overspend, but how can that happen when there is no legal limit? If a team had felt like buying a Super Bowl last year by spending what would have equaled the GDP of many third-world nations on salaries for the best players in the game—legally—they were allowed to.

No one did, of course, since it would not have been a sound business decision. The New York Yankees have proven that having the highest salary does not always equate to championship glory. Sure enough the two teams that did ‘overspend’ where really not that good that season.

Roger Goodell has talked a lot about the integrity of the game lately. What he needs to realize is that his actions against the Cowboys, Redskins, and Saints are as damaging to the integrity of the game as anything those three teams have done.

Goodell is being punitive here. Since teams did not do what he wanted, even though they did what they were allowed to do, he wants to say ‘shame on you.’

Dallas spent the money already and lost; so did Washington. That in itself is punishment enough for ‘overspending.’ Instead, two teams will have an even harder time fielding squads for the next two seasons.

Way to protect the integrity of the game Roger (sarcasm completely intended).